Me and My Wife’s View on Ubuntu 7.10: Ubuntu is highly regarded as the most human-friendly, idiot-proof, and easy-to-use Linux desktop operating system on the planet today. Its straightforward installation and maintenance, paired with its outstanding reliability and hardware support made it popular among new-to-Linux users as well as experts. But has Ubuntu really succeeded in winning the hearts of mainstream audiences?

To answer that, I asked my wife, one of the many typical Linux users.

She’s been using Xubuntu on her laptop for several months already and has become reasonably contented with it. She uses it mostly for web browsing and office application tasks. I installed it for her and do maintenance once in a while. She uses XP on her desktop computer but about a week ago, I successfully persuaded her to totally forget Windows and use Ubuntu 7.10 instead.

I installed ‘Gutsy Gibbon’ on her Pentium 4, 3GHz machine with 1GB of RAM and 80GB of disk storage. The installation was very effortless and it finished completely without a hitch. However, after the installation, it did not properly detect our 17” monitor’s optimum screen resolution. I then installed the proprietary ATI driver for the onboard Radeon Xpress 200 graphics and corrected the screen resolution using the graphical “Screen and Graphics Preferences” utility. But, after a reboot, the problem kept coming back. I ended up editing ‘xorg.conf’, and I was glad that I was able to fix the trouble. I went on to install ‘ubuntu-restricted-extras’ package using Synaptic. This very handy package contains MP3 and DVD playback support, Flash plugin, Microsoft font, and Java among others. I also installed “gdesklets” for a little desktop bling.

My wife’s new Ubuntu desktop has been running smoothly now, and here is what she has to say:

(Wife)I have been using Xubuntu for quite a while now so I have no trouble migrating from Windows to Ubuntu. I find its desktop well-arranged and most applications that I need are easily accessible. I found out that Ubuntu looks very sleek compared to Windows XP. The applications are very responsive and are quick to open. I also like Ubuntu’s fast start-up because it really saves a lot of time.

I’m beginning to like Linux because of its included and downloadable free software programs. In Windows, I have to find an installer CD to get what I need. Meanwhile in Ubuntu, all I have to do is open a package manager and search for whatever I want. It’s funny because I end up downloading and installing different kinds of software that I thought would be useful.

I installed some educational tools for my son and a few games. I fell in love with the image editor called Gimp because I find it easier and much simpler to use than Photoshop. For Word documents, I utilize OpenOffice. It’s much like using Microsoft Word but I think it still needs to improve its features a bit. I have no trouble playing multimedia files from MP3's to DVD’s, and also videos from YouTube.

Ubuntu has been really great and comfortable to use that I sometimes forget I’m using a dreaded Linux desktop operating system. I’ve heard that Linux is difficult to set-up and I’m glad that my husband was there to install it for me. But as what he says, Linux nowadays is not that complicated to maintain and is very secure. I’m also amazed when I have heard that it doesn’t need any anti-virus and anti-spyware software for it to run safe.

I know that I’m still at the early-stage of using a Windows-free desktop, but I think I’m going to get used to it. Thanks to this uniquely named and very capable OS called Ubuntu.

Conclusion (by me):So there you have it; one of the many testimonies that Linux, particularly Ubuntu has indeed made an impact on mainstream users. But, the minor glitches on or after installation is still an issue that needs to be taken cared of. Ubuntu 7.10 is all-in-all a quality Linux desktop OS. I can attest to that because Ubuntu is installed for good on my main workstation.